


Captain America- Coming Home

by jordieblob16



Series: Oneshots (A Collection from Many Fandoms) [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: AU, F/M, Gen, Steggy - Freeform, Steve is found AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-10
Updated: 2017-04-10
Packaged: 2018-10-17 03:14:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10585257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jordieblob16/pseuds/jordieblob16
Summary: The year is 1945. Peggy Carter is alone- but then her old friend Howard Stark calls and a new future is set into motion.





	

**Author's Note:**

> An AU set in 1945.

“Peg.” Even over the phone, Howard Stark’s voice teemed with excitement and urgency, slight desperation and much hope. “Peg, we’re so close. We may be able to actually do it!”

Peggy Carter leaned against the counter of her cramped apartment, pressing the phone closer to her cheek. It was the unusual seriousness of her friend that kept annoyance from creeping into her tone. “Do what, Howard?” She tried to elicit more details from him. “What’s going on?”

“…I can find him. I might be able to finally do it, Peg!”

“Find Steve?” Her words caught in her throat. She fiddled with the wire of the phone, her typical calm and confident attitude evaporating instantly, the old wound so easily reopened.

“Yeah, Peg, listen. I’ve been building a plane. It’s small, but it’s equipped with scopes, radar, all the works. I’ve done the math, and I think I know where his plane is.”

“But- he’s gone.” Tears creeped into her eyes, as she spoke, hating her own words, hating her sudden lack of composure.. “Steve is dead.”

“I- I know, Peg. But we can bring him home. Give him a funeral in Brooklyn. That’s what he would have wanted.” Howard sounded desperate and rueful, not at all like his normal boisterous self. “I owe him that. Let me give him that.”

“It was never your fault, Howard. He wouldn’t want you to feel guilty.”

“I need closure, Peg. Don’t you too?” He baited her.

The woman stood alone in her kitchen, her back against the counter. Peggy closed her eyes, thinking of the skinny boy from Brooklyn who would die fighting in the name of his home, knowing he would perish a world away from the place and people he had loved most.

And she knew her answer.

***

Soon enough, she found herself packed in flight tower with an flight crew, navigators, military officials. The air was tense accompanied only by silence, but occasionally, a few bursts of static would interrupt the stillness.

In all, the environment was unbearable. Peggy thought it odd that all the high ranking officials, who had previously faced a war, couldn’t even sum up the courage to make small talk with one another.

She despised the similarities between this place and the last flight tower she had been in, the one where she had listened to Steve talk as he steered the plane into the water. His voice had been calm enough, though she couldn’t deny the underlying tones of panic beneath the facade. He had talked until he died, the static replacing his sudden goodbye.

But now, the bursts of static meant something new. They gave a quiet sense of hope to the room full of the people closest to Captain America, reassuring them that their friend and comrade received a proper goodbye.

Finally, Howard’s voice emitted from the radio, interrupting the static. “I see something… it’s definitely not snow or ice… for a change…”

The tension in the room spiked, reaching a breaking point like a wire snapping. Excited whispers broke out, sending the room into a flurry. A group of military men congregated around the radio, but Peggy somehow found herself front and center, surrounded by everyone else. She deliberately ignored the awful parallels between her experience just over a month ago and this one as Howard talked.

“I’m landing now. There’s a flat enough sheet of ice in front of me. Everything is frozen for miles and miles, so it should hold.” His words reflected the mood of the flight tower’s; eager, yet still a little sad. Nobody spoke.

“The ice is holding. I’m pretty close, and it does look vaguely like a plane. I’m going to check it out.”

“Affirmative, Howard. Be careful.” The brunette managed, the emotion rising in her chest and making it hard to breathe.

“Wouldn’t have it any other way, Peg. You know me.” Howard promised, and Peggy relaxed ever so slightly, trying not to imagine what he was about to discover.

The next ten minutes were agony. Her mind was overworking, thinking of every horrible possibility, worrying about Howard and unable to let any of it show, not in front of her superiors.

“Peggy, I need you to trust me, and I need you to listen to me, okay?” Howard returned abruptly, sounding desperate. Peggy’s heart pounded in her chest as she responded.

“Yes, Howard, I- what is it? What did you find?”

“I need you to leave. Go home, and I’ll call you after I get back.”

“No, absolutely not-”

“Peg, I wouldn’t ask-”

“I have every right to be here!” She half-shouted. The woman’s voice quieted after she took a deep breath, but she still spoke firmly. “I was closer to Steve than anyone else here, and I have every right to stay.”

“Just trust me on this. Peggy, please.”

“I can handle whatever it is you have to say!”

“Agent Carter,” Colonel Philips interrupted, “perhaps Mr. Stark is right.”

The veteran glared at the Colonel, a flush creeping into her cheeks, her outrage showing and betraying her. “I don’t believe this.”

“I’ll explain soon.” Howard tried to assure her, and Peggy was despicably satisfied to hear regret in his voice. She huffed, giving everyone in the room a murderous look before storming out.

They forced her to leave the tower, but Peggy refused to go home while the men were discussing Steve, or whatever it was Howard had to share. She sat on the ground outside, staring at the cement in front her, drawing her coat closer to her in an effort against the cold.

***

Fantasises, the good and the bad alike, had seized Peggy’s mind and dominated all of her thoughts, as her brain computed, with an uncontrollable frenzy, all the possible outcomes of the day and what Howard was hiding from her. Her paranoia was only fueled further when an ambulance drove up the side of the long runway, parking just a hundred feet away from where the plane would later land. The two doctors pulled a gurney out of their long car and stood by it, waiting for their patient to arrive. Peggy watched with a furrowed brow, wondering if something could possibly be wrong with Howard. There was no pain in his voice when they had talked (or argued, rather). And Steve shouldn’t need doctors, as Peggy had to painfully remind herself.

Another hour and a half passed slowly. Each minute brought a new wave of worry for Peggy. Her foot tapped impatiently, showing both her nerves and her meager attempt at resistance against the extreme cold. Eventually though, a rumble in the sky announced the arrival of Howard, his despicable secret, and, hopefully, the last of Captain America.

As the plane landed, Peggy rose to her feet, and the men from the tower began to spill out around her. She kept her eyes forward, defiantly ignoring her male counterparts. The eyes of Colonel Phillips were on her, she could feel it, but that made a negligible difference on her cold demeanor.

Howard exited the small plane without his usual grand entrance, foregoing that and rushing to the doctors, exchanging a few, hurried words with them before coming over to her. She watched the two men dash over to the plane, craning her neck around Howard’s approaching figure.

Forcing her features to correctly reflect her icy disposition as Peggy wrestled with sympathy for her friend, who looked freezing with his hands stuffed deep into his pockets and his head burrowed deep in his coat, and the anger at him, which had only grown in her hours of waiting. She gave her best glare, and Howard shrunk back, looking appropriately guilty.

“Peg-” He began apologetically.

“I don’t want to hear that you’re sorry, Howard, I want to know what’s going on.” She cut him off, drawing herself up to her full height.

“I can’t do that just yet.” The billionaire stole a quick glance back at the plane, where the doctors were moving a large covered object onto the gurney. Peggy too stared at the strange and questionable scene, her mind still racing.

“I’m not some lovesick bimbo, Howard, I can handle it.”

His face softened ever so slightly, and Peggy saw his usually unbreakable and ego-driven attitude begin to fail. “Please, Peg, just trust me…”

Her nostrils flared. “Do you trust me, then? Because you seem to think that I’ll turn into a whimpering child at the first mention of bad news, that I haven’t already fought in a war, that I haven’t already lost Steve, that I didn’t talk to him while he died-” she stopped herself abruptly, blinking tears out of her eyes, “You have no right to withhold any information from me, Howard. None at all.”

His shoulders sagged. “I have to stand by it, Peg.”

She could only stare at him for a moment more before turning away wordlessly, stalking towards the car, her heel clicking on the pavement. Howard watched her for a moment before something dawned on him.

“Hey-” he started after her, “I’m your ride home!”

She didn’t bother turning around, but called back to him; “I suppose it’ll be a long ride back, then.”

***

“You’re not trying to make a profit off of this, are you?” demanded Peggy suddenly, “using his blood to make money?”

Howard barely spared her a glance before turning his focus back to the road. “No. I would never.”

“Well, you never involve reasonable people in your mindless money-making schemes, so I had to be sure.” She replied scathingly.

“Peg, if I were making money off of Steve’s blood, you’d kill me when you found out. And there’s no point in makin’ money if you’re not alive to enjoy it.”

She still fumed silently. The man sighed loudly, speeding down the lonely road and desperately thinking of a way to bridge the gap between him and his companion. After a few minutes, he seemed to come to a decision. “I am going to fill you in now, Peg. I was always going to.”

Peggy waited for him to continue, still aloof enough that she remained turned away, but her posture straightened slightly, listening attentively.

“I did find him. I found Steve. But between the ice and the serum… he looked exactly the same.” Peggy was looking directly at him now, transfixed on his face.

An involuntary shudder rippled through her. “He still looks like…?”

“Looked like he was sleeping.” Howard confirmed, and for once, his words came with a gentle delivery. Their eyes met for only a second, Peggy’s shining with tears. “But here’s the real kicker- I found a pulse. Peg, he’s alive.”

A shaking hand covered her mouth, the tears now streaming down her face. “Steve…”

“I could feel his heart beating. The serum did a better job than we ever thought it would.

"I didn’t want to tell you until he was stable,” Howard continued, “you know, no giving you false hope. I wasn’t sure- I could barely believe it.”

“You should have told me.”

“Look at you,” Howard denounced, “I just didn’t want you to lose Steve twice.”

She glared at him through her tears, though her happiness remained clearly splayed across her face. “But he’s stable?”

Her dear friend nodded eagerly. “Yeah, and the doctors even say that he’s woken up a few times this morning.”

More tears of joy slipped down Peggy’s cheek, as she sighed contentedly, the weight of grief disappearing from her shoulders. Such good news felt surreal to her, like it was too good to be true. But there was Howard, smiling at her lightly, and telling her they were on the way to the hospital to see Steve, and they were so close, oh so close.

She sniffed, wiping the wetness from her cheeks. “Thank you, Howard.”

***

Holding the large, callused, yet limp hand in her own felt so strange to Peggy. She couldn’t help but think how lucky she was that they were both here, the war over and the two of them safe and alive, together. But it still didn’t feel quite real. How could the man she had spent 6 weeks mourning be right there in front of her?

When they had arrived at the hospital, Peggy had been prepared to argue and fight with every nurse that came her way to gain access to Steve, but Howard had just announced their names, grinned impishly at the right women, and then they were right outside his room. “I’ll wait,” Howard had told her, “he’s all yours.” Briefly, Peggy wondered if she could handle this alone, but then she had turned the knob, given Howard and anxious smile and ended up in the same room as Steve Rogers once again in her life.

Now, looking at his face was practically unbearable, despite this being a moment she had spent many nights dreaming about. He hadn’t said anything yet, as Howard had informed her, and Peggy remained unable to believe the miracle in front of her just yet. For now, it was only if a ghost were present, a prominent memory accompanied by the vague sense of hope.

Peggy jumped when Steve gave a long sigh in his sleep, turning his head ever-so-slightly towards her. This small movement distracted her from her focus on his hands, her gaze now shifting to his face. A surge of emotion was created within her, the most dangerous of feelings exploding in her chest. All of the pain, anger and sorrow she had carried with her resurfaced. The frustration at losing Steve extruded inside her, her grievance at how her was so stupidly brave, brave enough to sacrifice his life, how ridiculous it was that they never acted upon their feelings for each other, how she waited, and waited, and never said anything or did anything until it became too late, and he was gone, flying away in that godforsaken plane, until he was crashing into the ice, far, far away. There was the pain of losing him, of saying goodbye, of sitting in that awful tower, listening to his last words, then just radio static, the pain of going to his funeral, watching as they lowed the empty coffin into the ground, walking along the streets accompanied by his thousands of fans and mourners, and finally, the confusion and joy, the whiplash of finding out that he could be a hero again, not just a martyr.

Staring at his face and his peacefully closed eyelids, she waited, suddenly unwilling and unable to look away, her breathing slowing to match his as a sense of calm and acceptance slowly settled over her,

Time faded away, minutes passing rapidly as she watched him, patiently now, anticipating it, but not rushing it.

Then, her prayers were answered, her dreams and hopes becoming a reality as his eyes fluttered open, staring at the ceiling blankly, then, as if sensing her presence, turning his head to see her face. Peggy sat still, not daring to move, focusing on his eyes, which, in turn, gazed at her, filled with amazement.

Her breath let out in a deep sigh, a long-withheld smile spreading across her face, an action that the breathing, alive, awake, present boy from Brooklyn imitated with ease.

“Hello, Darling.” She whispered quietly yet proudly, eyes shining with rapture and love for the young man who had saved the world countless times with his heroics and leadership, who now saved her once more from any possible grief in that moment, who filled her with hope, and inspired her, and kept her going on every bad day, who clearly loved her so much, and who, finally, could squeeze her hand back while the two people grinned ecstatically at each other, filled with an indescribable and endless happiness.

***

“I’d hate to step on your toes.” Steve recalled suddenly, speaking the thought as it came to him.

“What?” Peggy demanded sharply, jolted from her reverie back to the present. Their eyes met, hers startled and wide, his soft and calm. There was a pause as they stared at each other, caught up in the moment.

“That’s the last thing I remember,” Steve explained, shifting from his position on the hospital bed and gazing at Peggy intently, “telling you that.”

She blinked, taken aback. “Yes- yes, I know. I remember too.”

“That was six weeks ago.” He sounded sure of himself, but nonetheless, he looked to her for confirmation.

Peggy nodded helpfully. “That’s right.” She said, swallowing the sting that came with the memory, and smiling at Steve gently.

“What did I miss? Full story.” He prompted, sitting up a little straighter, desperate to learn anything about the world. Most of what he knew now was warped and blended together in the flurry of chatter and the blabbering of the doctors and nurses attending to Steve. Between the several check-ups he had endured, the hour of questioning, and the large meal that had been forced down his throat, he had been able to gleam any real information.

“The war is over,” she told him , looking down at her hands, “we won. And I’ve attended more funerals than I care to count,” her voice caught, “including Bucky’s. Including yours.”

“I’m sorry.” He uttered instantly, the helplessness written across his face.

“Don’t be,” She said, her voice firm again, “both of you saved so many innocent lives. The funerals were a way for us to honor your sacrifices. We are forever indebted to you.”

“I wish I coulda’ been there for Buck’s…” Steve shook his head, grief palpable on his face.

“You were a bit preoccupied, Steve,” Peggy said gently, resting her hand on his knee, “he would have understood.”

“I know. I know,” he sighed, “I just wish…” He trailed off, putting his face in his hands.

A few minutes passed in silence, Peggy still next to him with her hand on his leg, a small and comforting gesture that left him enough space to grieve for a moment. Then his entire body tensed, and he looked up. “What happened to the Tesseract?” He demanded, his voice incisive, with urgent undertones replacing any previous sorrow.

“Howard amused himself by throwing it around until he was lost, then spent a large amount of time cutting through ice to drop it to the bottom of the ocean. It’s far away enough from the plane, which Howard left buried in eight feet of snow and ice. It’s gone.”

Steve slumped back onto his heap of pillows. “Thank God,” he breathed.

“Howard took your death quite hard. It was crucial to him that you didn’t die in vain.”

“I’ll have to thank him for that, won’t it?”

“He’s right outside, I believe, if he hasn’t been sidetracked by one of those nurses,” she informed him, smiling faintly.

“I owe him my life,” Steve said, “and he protected my sacrifice.” He laughed. “What a man.”

“Never underestimate Howard Stark,” Peggy agreed quietly.

***

“Visiting hours are now over,” the female nurse chirped, sticking her head through the doorway, blushing when Howard devilishly winked at her.

“Don’t worry, Steve,” Howard said offhandedly, standing up. “We’ll be back first thing tomorrow to pick you up. I was chatting with your doctors outside. You’re pretty healthy for a guy who’s been dead for a month and a half. They just want to keep you for a night then you’re free to go in the morning.”

“First thing?” Steve repeated, his eyes on Peggy.

“First thing,” Peggy nodded.

“Don’t you dare be late.” He said seriously, despite his eyes were alight with humor.

Peggy rolled her eyes, bending down to kiss Steve passionately on the lips, giving in to the long-withstanding urge and making her feelings clearly known to them all. “You really shouldn’t doubt me, Steve.” She murmured, still close to his face. Then, while Steve sat there, stunned, she turned in her heel and stalked out of the room, her chin held high.

***TEN MONTHS, TWO WEEKS LATER***

“I hope I’m not too late,” Steve muttered to Peggy, his lips almost brushing against her forehead, as they swayed together to the soft tunes of music. The atmosphere in the room was slow and lethargic so late at night, even at the usually bouncing and upbeat Stork Club. The two remained some of the last on the dance floor in the gradually emptying club. They stood out, the tall, extremely muscled man in a nice-looking tux, with his arms around the striking English woman, adorned in a stunning red gown that swept the floor as she moved.

“Only by a year,” she whispered back, but with no malice in her words, “but better now than any later.”

“Good,” Steve smiled, bending down ever-so-slightly to kiss his partner. “Keep your eyes closed,” he instructed her gently when their lips had parted.

“Why?” She breathed, suspicion shooting through her instantly, although she obeyed his wish, feeling him step away from her. Her breathing accelerating as suspense consumed her, her lips twitching up into an inpatient smirk when he simply answered;

“Because.” Then, a moment later: “Open.”

“Please?” She teased.

“Please.” He replied, and Peggy could hear the amusement in his tone.

So she opened her eyes, and saw the one and only Steve Rogers kneeled on the floor in front of her, holding a beautiful silver ring in his hands.

“Peggy,” he began, love in his eyes, and his voice absolutely teeming with it, “my best girl.” Emotion made his voice crack. “You are my right partner.” Nervously, he smiled. “Marry me?”

An helpless, stupidly lovesick grin answered him first. She extended her hand, pulling him up and drawing him close, so that their noses almost touched. “Yes, darling. Of course I will.” She breathed, staring deep into his eyes just a moment before kissing him deeply, the two intertwined on the center of the dance floor, the heroes forgetting all the troubles in the world, and everything else in it, their moment forever cherished in their time.

***

Building their lives together proved no easy task, two independent people suddenly learning the meaning of codependence, something only made harder by Peggy’s demanding and dangerous job with the SSR, and Steve’s equally trying work and fame as a resurrected war hero.

But still, as the years passed, the two changed and grew together, their bond strengthening with the challenges of the various missions and adventures that came their way. Domestic life and quiet moments were treasured, but the days filled with excitement and adrenaline were always looked forward to. But whatever came their way could be dealt with, so long as the two had each other by their side.

Friends followed a similar path, bringing the couple great joy when Howard announced his engagement (they couldn’t help but to be smug about that), and under a year later, was married.

All seemed well until an innocent-seeming thank-you card arrived in the mail, a lovely thing handwritten by Maria herself (Howard had only cared enough to sign it, Peggy reasonably supposed). Inside the envelope, however, was a picture of Steve and Peggy, taken at the wedding. Steve’s arms were wrapped around her, and he gazed down at her lovingly, though her own focus was caught by something off to the side.

A soft smile graced Peggy’s face as she stared at the photo, studying it and recalling the night. Then, rather abruptly, a realization hit her, and she strode out of the hall and into their living room, snatching a framed photo off the mantle and holding the two side by side, as to compare them.

Peggy stood next to Steve, smiling widely and adorned in a beautiful lace dress, Steve in his military uniform. The day they got married, years ago.

The time showed on her face, now. She could see it in the new photo, a smile line here and there, even how she carried herself, weighed down by so many troubles of the world. She had changed.

But not Steve.

No aging showed on his face, his eyes remained untouched by time, his features preserved perfectly. He wouldn’t change, medically couldn’t grow older, even while she would, while their potential children would. He’d be frozen in time, and she would be lost to it.

“Peg?” A voice behind her asked gently.

“You haven’t changed. At all.” She said strangely, turning to face him. This bothered her, clearly, but she couldn’t pinpoint exactly why. Did she mind getting older? Well, perhaps a little bit, but it certainly wasn’t something to make a fuss over. “Not since the serum, I don’t think.”

“Peggy- I-” He made his way across the room to her, setting down the photos and taking her hands in his. He took a deep breath, playing with her fingers for a moment as he thought, running a finger over her wedding band. “I don’t care how you look, or even how I look.” A small smile crossed his face, tinged with sadness. “So long as we’re together.” Leaning down, he kissed the side of her face. “Is that okay with you?”

Absentmindedly, she nodded, still disturbed but willing to wait for whatever the future held.

***

“She was shot six times,” the doctor explained patiently, “twice in her right arm, once by her sternum, above her heart, and twice again in her stomach. She’s lost a lot of blood, and we believe there may be damage to her heart and arteries.”

The middle-aged man delivered this news simply, calmly, as if he were sharing the day’s weather or a boring bit of news. As if it didn’t matter. As if it weren’t a potential death sentence for Steve’s wife.

“So what do we do next?” Steve asked, his arms crossed and disposition strong even while his voice was meek, made timid by the destroying news. Next to him, Howard rubbed his forehead, making a small noise, perhaps one of grief.

Now, the doctor hesitated. “Surgery is a very risky option. Her heart is weak, it would very likely give out during any operation. There’s not much we can do.”

“And without surgery?”

“Her chances aren’t good either way. I’m sorry, Mr. Rogers. We can make her comfortable, but her heart will likely fail in a couple of days.” The man ran his fingers through greying hair. “If there’s anything I can do for you, please, let me know.” With that, he exited the room, leaving the two men to face the horrible reality.

“Damn it!” Howard burst, springing up from the worn hospital chair. “This isn’t right,” he seethed, beginning to pace, “I’m sorry, Steve.” He said to his friend, who had buried his face into his hands. “I’m sorry, it was supposed to be a simple job, just a coupla’ thugs with some bad ideas.” He closed his eyes, running his fingers through his hair. “‘cept there were more than a couple… she shouldna’ been alone.”

Steve too, closed his eyes, bowing his head, searching for something to say, anything to reassure Howard, or maybe himself.

But nothing could do that.

He stood up, and walked out.

“Peggy.”

Her eyes opened slowly, meeting his. “Steve,” she murmured, just barely managing a smile. He reached out, taking her hand and grasping it firmly. “What’s happened?” She asked, wincing as she did so, for even the smallest movement pained her. Moving his chair closer, Steve prepared himself to deliver the awful news.

Pain showed clearly in both of their eyes, physical agony in Peggy’s and an emotional hell erupting in Steve’s, but still he carefully chose his words and began to speak.

“Too many thugs,” he said, trying for a smile, but any expression of joy on his face felt entirely too foreign, and any cheer quickly slid from his face, “or at least that’s what Howard said.”

“So I recall. Those bastards,” she mused, “there are five wounds, I believe?”

“Six,” Steve corrected her gently, and on that word, his voice broke, turning away from his wife, unable to meet her eyes, to face Peggy and her suddenly inevitable fate.

“Steve?” She asked, concern immediately lacing both her tone and features. “What is it?”

“There’s nothing they can do,” he delivered the news bluntly, hating his words but unable to sugarcoat them, “your heart is too weak.”

“I’m going to die?” She inhaled sharply, looking away from Steve. He nodded, squeezing her hand, Peggy’s presence the only thing that could possibly comfort him. The despair and heavy weight began to set in as they sat in silence for several long, torturous moments.

Finally, she turned to him, a smile cracking through her tears. “I do love you.”

“Love you too.” He whispered back.

***

“Hey!” Howard’s loud voice disturbed the quiet peace of the room, “Uh- sorry,” he focused on something out the window, incapable of eye contact with either of his friends, standing in the doorway awkwardly as he talked. “Steve, listen, I have an idea I need to discuss with you-”

“I’m a little busy right now if you don’t mind.” The captain cut in coolly, not even moving from his chair next to Peggy, or bothering to spare him a glance. Howard shrunk back slightly, but yet he persisted.

“I know, but I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important, would I?”

Steve glowered, his brow pinching together, until Peggy squeezed his hand. “You can leave my side, Steve. I’ll be quite alright.”

He looked between her and Howard before making his decision and standing, joining the genius outside, closing the door with a click.

“So I’ve been thinking- you’ve been shot, right?”

***

“I’ve got it!” Howard half shouted, sprinting into the room.

Lying helplessly in bed, the dying woman stirred feebly. Sitting in a chair next to her was Steve, who eyed Howard with something like hope beginning to shimmer in his eyes, wondering if their plan had worked.

“An injection,” he continued, “this could save you, Peg!” he told her as she woke fully, gazing dimly at Howard in her dying haze, still clutching Steve’s hand, though her grip was now weak and failing.

“What have you done now?” she uttered faintly.

“A serum replication.” The inventor and scientist said excitedly, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he entered the room, striding in and standing at the foot of her bed. “I’m going to save your life.”

“And you’re sure this’ll work?” Her husband asked, the sanguine energy spreading to him too, though he didn’t dare to attach fully to this hope.

“95% sure. And the doctors are on board too, so we can start as soon as they all arrive.”

“What the bloody hell is going on?” Even in her deteriorating state, the agent commanded their respect and attention in an instant, the two boys twisting around to look at her, suddenly like children caught by their mother doing something naughty.

“Howard used my blood to recreate the serum-” Steve explained calmly, as if this weren’t an illegal crime.

“An improved one, mind you- suited to your femaleness-”

“Project Insight is closed.” Peggy’s voice was disapproving, even with the weakness behind it.

“Well, they can arrest me once it works.” Howard moved closer to her, “Are you ready?”

“We are.” Peggy’s doctor said, leading a group of doctors into the room.

“Is this really rational?” The patient demanded, angrily looking at the men congregated around her.

“Peggy, you’re dying,” Steve said determinedly, “this is the only way.”

“This my life!” She protested, “and none of you even told me-”

“We didn’t want to get your hopes up-”

“You’re going to die without it, Peggy.” Howard reminded her, frowning down at her. “Are you going to die fighting, or just give up?”

Raising her chin, she noticed Steve beside her, his eyes glistening with tears, desperation still clear on his face, though he seemed to be trying to hide it. “Well, if that’s a challenge- to die fighting, that is- then I accept. But if I die-” she spoke to Steve now, “then you move on.” He shook his head, against her words already, “if,” she pressed on, “you get back up, and you keep fighting, you understand? Will you do?”

Tears sliding down his face, Steve leaned over her and kissed her, lingering and soft. “Don’t just mope around,” she instructed him when their lips parted, “you’re more than that.”

“I love you.”

She smiled at him, one last time. Then to Howard, she said:

“Do it.”

So he injected the serum.

Immediately, the effects of the inoculation took place. Her body twitched and seized. A horrible, moaning scream penetrated the room. Steve watched, horrified but unable to look away as his wife convulsed on the bed.

Almost a full minute passed before the fit ended, leaving her body with a sigh of air. Peggy Carter slumped back against the pillows, completely limp as all fight left her.

***

“We are gathered here today to celebrate the life and accomplishments of Peggy Carter, a remarkable woman who dedicated her life to justice and fighting for what’s right, even when that fight proved not to be easy.

"Even before she became the first female super soldier, Peggy proved she could hold her own, both in the war and after it. It is because of her perseverance and bravery, no matter the circumstances, that we honor her tonight.”

Grinning ear to ear, Steve looked at Peggy sitting next to him. She smiled back, leaning into his shoulder.

“At what point tonight do we dance?” She whispered in his ear.

“Anytime you like,” He promised, and this date, he would keep.

**Author's Note:**

> Also published on Wattpad and in a tumblr text post.


End file.
